The Lackman

Photograph by Melissa Farlow

About the size of New Orleans’ French Quarter, Over-the-Rhine is believed to contain the country’s largest collection of 19th-century Italianate buildings—943. New shops, restaurants, and sidewalk cafés now populate many of the historic buildings, such as the Lackman, a bar at the intersection of 13th and Vine Streets.

21c Museum Hotel

Photograph by Melissa Farlow

“We are a museum first and a hotel second,” says Eli Meiners, collection manager for 21c Museum Hotel in downtown Cincinnati. The first two floors are open 24/7 for anyone off the street who wants to look at contemporary art. Installations, many by Cincinnatians, occupy every guest floor and change regularly.